I wanted to know now that you had time to fly it and test it , what do you think of your Takoon?
And more specifically I'm thinking about switching to lighter steering kites to reduce the stress on elbows and shoulders.
takoon or wipi or F1 or???
Any idea or which one is less damaging??

I appreciate any infos on your Takoon, and what did you fly B4 and how does it compare?

What about durability it seems to be an issue depending on who you talk to???

Takoon Skoop 8.5 is very gentle on the elbows. Compared to Rhino 1 is day and night. The Naish X2s fly different so you can use your front lines more (hang on your chicken loop more). North Toros are also smooth, but when underpowered are same as everything else. Mach-1s, although they are great performers, they are NOT gentle on the elbows IMO, eventhough I hear many people saying so. Probably they had Slingshots before, which are the worst enemy to your elbows/arms.
All the above are based on my personal experiences.
Good luck with your decision.

I can't tell you about any other except for Naish. I've been using an ARX 15.5 for about a year (after spending a year on a AR3.5 9.0. It was a great kite for most wind conditions that I had. However, in really lite wind and very strong wind, it was really hard on my elbows. Sometimes I could only ride about a half hour before wanting to come in. That sucks since I normally would be out for 3 or 4 hours and only come in b/c of dark or lack of wind. I would only ride the kite in the hard loop, just edging hard during the gusts. I didn't like the way the kite flew in the chicken loop. Which made me hesitant to move to the X2 16 that I recently bought. The last 2 months on this kite have completely changed my mind. It flies so much faster (turning especially)than the ARX. And my elbows haven't hurt at all flying this thing. I'm sure some of the other kites might be fine, too, but I have limited experience with them. The only thing I regret is not buying a size bigger. The X2 doesn't have as low a windrange as the ARX. Good luck on finding the kite for you.

Thks for the answers.
It is good to hear that the takoon is pretty gentle, what about durability issue?
As far as lighter steering = less power I don't think so. It seems that all the new kites required much less pull on the bar than previous years, but are turning faster and are more powerful!
As for the gym my arms are already pretty strong but I sure need some stretching.
It is amazing to me to try different kites and see the huge change on how the pull is trasfer to the body.
Some kites are just pulling like trucks:
constant pull mostly on the back lines, when gust you need to be in the chiken loop and let the bar go foward, or spend all your energy edging...When the wind drop a little you need to sinus your kite with great effort on the bar, creating elbows and shoulders problems...
Some other are just easy to steer, they need much less forces on the bar, you can just rest your hands on the bar and fly the kite with 2 fingers, thum and index.( kite all day!)
most of the pull is throught the front line which is attached to your harness, therefore it is transfered to your entire body instead than mostly to your arms.
The pull nevertheless is still strong and more that adequate.

For me the trucks are a thing of the past and my next kite will be a light steering one.
Let's see what 2003 as to bring!
And if any of you has already tested and can relate to that subject , please have at it...

There are a lots of guys out there suffering from elbows and shoulders when it was created by the kite they fly...

I have an X2 and when it is really windy or light I wear out my arms working it. If you have the right size kite for the conditions you don't have to work it at all, even really old kites. The early kites were trucks because you had to really pull hard to get them to turn, ususally to get a kite to turn easier you need to shorten the lines which works good when it is too windy or use the kite that is the right size. If you are wearing out your arms then get a bigger kite. You won't have to pull at all. Or if you are sailing with a big kite and it's too windy get a smaller kite. I think you will be dissapointed if you buy a kite for light steering. Almost every new high aspect kite pulls very hard when sailed under or over powered. I think I work my X2 harder with more pain in my elbows than when I was using an older slower kite when the wind is not just perfect. Hope you find the right kite.
PC

Thks for the reply,
Other agree with that, newer kites pull more when under or overpowered than old one?
Or is it just the X2, I heard that complain B4...
Anybody still has pain with lighter steering kite? or has the pain decreased or stopped?
Which kites?
thks,